Ion Exchange Chromatography

Learn about the function and principles of ion exchange chromatography and get hands-on experience by purifying a protein involved in Parkinson’s disease to help studying the relation between the protein and the disease.

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About This Simulation

This short, targeted simulation is adapted from the full-length Parkinson’s Disease simulation.

How to purify the protein sample to obtain a high purity compound? Now you have the opportunity to learn one of the techniques that can do that! In the Ion Exchange Chromatography simulation, you will learn what chromatography is and you will perform your own purification experiment.

Prepare the protein sample

First step in chromatography is the preparation of the sample. Therefore, in the beginning you will extract monomers of alpha synuclein (aSN), a protein that is involved in the development of Parkinson’s disease. In order to do so, you will use sonication to extract the protein, which is produced by an E. coli bacterial strain.

Perform ion-exchange chromatography

Next step is the purification of the extracted aSN monomers by ion exchange chromatography. First, you will learn about the different parts of the chromatography equipment to get familiar with them and then you will apply your knowledge and run the experiment yourself!

Analyze the results and pick the right fraction

Finally, you will analyze the chromatogram and find the fraction that has our purified aSN protein. Your work will help the researchers in their further study. Maybe your contribution will help us find a cure for Parkinon’s disease?

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